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Primary sourcePainting28 September 1878

Riding into Power

John Wilson Bengough · 28 September 1878

A political cartoon by John Wilson Bengough published in 1878, showing Macdonald and the Conservatives riding an elephant labeled 'National Policy' to election victory.

This satirical cartoon depicts Macdonald and his Conservative party triumphing in the 1878 election on his National Policy.

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Political cartoon titled 'Riding into Power': a large elephant labeled 'National Policy' carries several men in top hats and bowler hats. One rider holds a book labeled 'R.W. Phipps his elephant' and says 'I can pitch them all off if I like.' Another holds 'Phipps pamphlet'. A seated man at top holds 'Scraps from Phipps Pamphlet'. Below, men sprawl under the elephant, one beneath a sign reading 'Revenue Tariff'. Signed 'Bengough' at lower right.
John Wilson Bengough, Riding into Power, Grip, 28 September 1878.

About this source

What it is

This cartoon, titled "Riding into Power," was drawn by the Canadian cartoonist John Wilson Bengough and published in the magazine Grip on 28 September 1878. It shows Sir John A. Macdonald and fellow Conservatives riding atop a large elephant labeled "National Policy," with figures holding pamphlets and other men sprawled beneath the elephant under a sign reading "Revenue Tariff."

Why it matters

The cartoon comments on the 1878 federal election, won by Macdonald's Conservatives on the strength of their National Policy of protective tariffs. Political cartoons like this one reveal how contemporaries viewed and satirized Macdonald's policies and political opponents in the press of the day.

Look closer

  • What does the elephant and its label suggest about the cartoonist's opinion of the National Policy?
  • Why might the artist have chosen to show some men sprawled beneath the elephant?
  • What does this cartoon assume its readers already knew about Canadian politics in 1878?

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